If you would like to meet other people with sight loss and chat about the problems you are having due to your vision, or just fancy a coffee and a biscuit, why not pop along to our Coffee Mornings? They take place on the last Friday of each month between 10am – 12 noon at our centre in Albion Street. We charge £2.00, just to cover our costs and everyone at Insight is very friendly and happy to discuss anything that is worrying you, or just generally shoot the breeze! If you would like to come along to one of our coffee mornings and you haven’t been before, just give us a call on 01242 221170, so we can put out an extra cup!

We wanted to let everyone know that there may be a little bit of disarray in our Albion Street Low Vision Centre, if you visit us during August. We have been fortunate to receive some funding which will allow us to replace the flooring in the public areas downstairs, as this has been looking very “tired” for many years now. We will try to minimise disruption to clients who pop in during August, but there may be some occasions when we need to attend to you in one of the other smaller rooms downstairs. However, this won’t prevent us from looking after you and we will do our best to carry on as normal!

Insight supporters Andrea, Christie and Tom completed the exhausting 27km BVG Trail, above Lake Garda, to raise funds for us in memory of their son/brother, Ali. Ali was a member of our social group, Outlook and involved in the VI cricket team. This is the third time the family have taken on this challenge and we were delighted to hear they have raised £300!

We are so grateful to anyone who offers to fundraise for us as it helps us continue our work supporting blind and sight impaired people in Gloucestershire. If anyone else out there is prepared to undertake an event on our behalf, please get in touch on 01242 221170 and we can help publicise it for you.

It was a pleasure to meet students Harvey Edwards and Rob Caesar this week, when they called into our centre to present us with a cheque for over £900! Cheltenham College has been fundraising for Insight over the past year and raised this fantastic amount through events such as a summer barbeque. We were delighted to show Harvey and Rob around our Low Vision Centre and tell them a little bit about some of the equipment that is available for blind and sight impaired people. Hopefully they will be able to spread the word about the work we do here and encourage other people to consider Insight, if they are thinking of donating to a charity.

The money we receive from fundraising, or personal donations, enables us to provide support to people with sight loss throughout the county, as we reveive no Government funding. So thank you very much Cheltenham College, from all of us at Insight!!

Our next information day will be held at Moreton Area Centre, The High Street, Moreton-in-Marsh, on Monday 10th September. We will be there between 10am-3pm and will be joined by a host of other exhibitors who will be bringing items such as electronic magnifiers, CCTVs, easy to use radios and assistive software. The exhibitors who are attending are Dolphin, Enhanced Vision, BWBF, OrCam, Sight and Sound and Humanware. Our sight loss advisors will also be on hand to chat to you about any concerns you may have, with regard to your sight loss. This is the last exhibition we will be holding this year, so it’s an ideal opportunity to find out what assistance may be out there, if you have a sight impairment.

This is being held in the Holy Apostles Church Hall, London Road, Cheltenham, GL52 6HW, which is a great venue as there is parking on site. We will be there between 10am and 3pm and there will be plenty of equipment on display, for you to look at and and try out. Our exhibitors will be: Enhanced Vision, Dolphin, Sight and Sound, Orcam, Vision Aid, Humanware, BWBF, Optelec and PVS.

You can also chat to one of Insight’s Sight Loss Advisors about any concerns you may have, with regard to your sight. They can provide you with information on eye conditions, benefits and clubs/groups for people with sight loss. Tea and coffee with be available and as this is our 160th year as a charity, we will also be bringing along a large cake!! We feel that 160 years is quite an achievement and as we can’t afford a huge celebration, cake seems to be the best option!

We look forward to seeing you on the 21st August, but please contact us on 01242 221170, if you need any further information.

The wonderful Powell family, who hosted a garden party fundraiser for us last year, were kind enough to do it again for us, a few weeks ago. They were blessed with warm, sunny weather on the day and everyone who attended had a fantastic time. They raised the staggering amount of £743.06, which was even more than last year. We can only imagine the hard work that went into making so many cakes and entertaining so many people, but we certainly appreciate the effort. Thank you so much!

If you would like to organise a fundraising event to help Insight continue their work in supporting blind and sight impaired people, please get in touch with us on 01242 221170 so we can help to promote it for you.

From 28th June 2018, there will be changes to the road system in central Cheltenham. This will have an effect on the spaces available to Blue Badge holders in Pittville Street and the area near Lakeland and Yo! Sushi. Blue Badge spaces will no longer be available opposite Marks and Spencer and drivers will not have access to Pittville Street or the area around W.H. Smith and the Promenade. The only vehicles which will be allowed are buses, taxis and minibuses. This is a trial period of several months, with a review next year. Should you access this area in a car, you may receive a fine of at least £30. Cheltenham Borough Council says that other Blue Badge spaces have been provided around the town to compensate. Please do not hesitate to feed back to us any concerns you have about this new road system.

Insight’s next Information Day will be on Tuesday19th June, in the Parish Rooms, Gosditch Street, Cirencester, GL7 2AG. Doors are open between 10am -3pm. Call in to speak to one of our sight loss advisors, or have a look at some of the specialist equipment and technology that is available for people with sight loss. Exhibitors will be: Enhanced Vision, Sight and Sound, OrCam, Optelec and Professional Vision Services (PVS). We are continuing to celebrate our 160th year as a charity, so we will be bringing along a big cake and we really hope you will be able to join us for a slice!

On the 7th of April, Christiana Pearson took part in an Ultramarathon to raise money for Insight, in memory of her brother Ali. Ali was part of our Outlook group and also a popular member of the infamous Gloucestershire Growlers VI cricket team! The Ultramarathon takes place over 75 km of spectacular, challenging terrain, up in the mountains above the shores of Lake Garda, Italy. Christiana, her brother Luke and her Uncle Ade, were running the whole distance and other members of the family were running 27km of the trail.

We were delighted to hear that Christiana completed the Ultramarathon in just 14 hours U3 minutes – which is an amazing achievement! It’s difficult to comprehend how much effort Christiana and her family must have put into this fundraising effort, but not difficult to imagine how proud Ali would be of them all! If you would still like to donate to Christiana’s fundraising total, please give Insight a call on 01242 221170 and we can arrange this for you.